Developer Of Pacific Park Megaproject Could Lose Phase 2 Sites To Foreclosure
The lead developer of a 22-acre megaproject that was supposed to deliver more than 3,000 units of housing in Brooklyn is at risk of losing control of several still-unbuilt development sites.
The U.S. Immigration Fund, an EB-5 lender, has moved to foreclose on six sites owned by Greenland USA, the subsidiary of Chinese state-owned Greenland Group, which owns the controversial Pacific Park development, The Real Deal first reported.
The foreclosure comes almost a year after Greenland reportedly defaulted on loans totaling $349M. The developer missed its payment deadlines in November 2022 and January this year. It is unclear why the project’s lender, which raises capital via the cash-for-visa program, waited to foreclose.
The loans cover six rental development sites, with an auction scheduled for Jan. 11. A Newmark team led by Jordan Roeschlaub and Adam Spies is marketing the UCC foreclosure.
The Pacific Park project originally spanned 15 sites, with Phase 2 — a residential and retail complex delivering 3,200 apartments, including 876 affordable units — facing a 2025 completion deadline. If the developer misses the deadline, it will face a monthly $2K fine for every unbuilt affordable unit, TRD reported.
Pacific Park, which originally was dubbed Atlantic Yards, has been a locus of controversy since it was first proposed. It faced opposition when development plans were first floated and was then slowed by the Global Financial Crisis.
Greenland acquired a 70% stake in the project in 2014, more than a decade after its original developer, Forest City Ratner, broke ground and after it had already completed the Barclays Center and the first residential tower.
After Forest City was sold to Brookfield in 2018, Greenland took on an even larger stake in Pacific Park.
The following year, Greenland then sold two parcels slated for residential and commercial space, 615 and 595 Dean St., to developer TF Cornerstone for $143M, Crain’s New York Business reported. Two sites not covered by the U.S. Immigration Fund loan were also sold to The Brodsky Organization.
Fortress Investment Group acquired a stake in the debt in 2020, which it still owns, TRD reported.
Greenland USA, the U.S. Immigration Fund and Newmark didn't respond to Bisnow’s requests for comment ahead of publication.
